Cheetah Conservation Fund

Category: Cheetah - Education | Date: Jan 02 2008 | By: admin

These are not only the horns of a dead Kudu bull, but could also be a trophy earning the learners’ poverty-stricken parents a good income. To make this a reality, Namibia’s unique resources of wildlife need to be conserved and well managed. As part of our course designed for grade 9 - 12 learners, CCF’s Chris Gordon taught the importance of ecosystem management and exposed them to the idea of conservancies. This has given these learners the first step to become Namibia’s conservancy members in the years to come.

Because Namibian cheetahs live on farmland, conservancies and their wildlife management techniques are extremely important for long-term cheetah conservation. Today, conservancies are a growing movement throughout Namibia, and are playing a leading role in the conservation effort. Free-hold conservancies consist of adjacent farms that are linked through cooperative natural resource management, guided by a management plan. Conservation biologists increasingly emphasize that protected areas alone are simply not large enough to sustain the wildlife they were created to protect. Therefore, it is increasingly clear that a focus on conservation on private and communal farmland is crucial.

Again, it is important to remember that Namibia’s land is not arable for the most part, so game and livestock farms are in many cases the only possible source of income.

One response so far

Category: Cheetah - Conservation Programmes, Cheetah - Education, Cheetah - General, Cheetah - Research | Date: Dec 18 2007 | By: admin

Over the past two weeks, myself along with CCF research assistants Matti Nghikembua and Ezekiel Fabiano, joined 35 other southern African and international cheetah and wild dog specialists in Botswana to develop a regional plan that encourages the incorporation of cheetah and wild dog conservatoin requirements into land use planning, human wildlife conflict resolution strategies to be implemented regionally, and the development of training and capacity building programs which can be adopted and implemented by southern African range countries.

Following the regional meeting, a Botswana national workshop took place where the strategic regional goals were used to develop national goals and targets for long-term sustainability of these two species. Both the cheetah and wild dog have extremely large home ranges, live at low densities with the majority of their populations living outside protected areas, where conflict mitigation strategies must be employed.

Due to the success of CCF’s long-term projects, many of these served as models for the strategic planning process. The workshop coincided with the publication of a special edition by the IUCN CAT Specialist Group on the Status and Conservation Needs of Cheetahs in Southern Africa. This publication is a result of the last regional cheetah meeting held at CCF in December 2005. Along with this special issue, a Cheetah Compendium was also launched on the CAT Specialist Group Website, which brings all current and historic knowledge together in one place. Both the website and the special cheetah issue were supported by CCF and will help everyone in their work to conserve the cheetah for the future.

6 responses so far

Category: Cheetah - Education | Date: Dec 13 2007 | By: admin

Cheetah Conservation Fund’s Programme ‘Future Farmers of Africa’ presented its first Livestock Marketing Course from the 3^rd to 7^th of December. It focused on the ideal product, the economic viability of production and on environmentally sound and cheetah friendly production practices. 25 farmers learned to determine weight by girth measurement, which is required to calculate market related prices, to monitor weight gain and to evaluate performance. This is important to farmers without scales on their farms as many may not be able to afford them. Techniques learned in this course will help them get the most out of their livestock. While some predator losses are inevitable these courses help farmers minimize losses while maximizing returns. Stakeholders of Namibia’s meat industry, namely the Meat Board of Namibia and the Meat Corporation of Namibia partnered up with CCF to make this event possible. The number of courses we can offer in a year is often limited by funding. We appreciate your help with this.

(Photo: Farmers measure the weight of a slaughter ox). From Günther Roeber - Course Coordinator

6 responses so far

Category: Cheetah - Education | Date: Nov 05 2007 | By: admin

Approximately 95% of the cheetah population in Namibia resides on farmlands in the north-central region of the country, with only small populations of cheetah found in the southern part. This causes human wildlife conflict as farmers are worried about predators taking livestock. As part of our conservation and education programs we offer farmer training programs that focus on livestock and predator management. With the help of sponsors we are able to offer these courses which include training, food, and shelter to the farmers. Their only responsibility is transport to CCF. We have had a very positive response and continue to fill courses. Starting with two basic courses we have now added many based on the needs of farmers. Successful farms are important for the conservation of the cheetah and other predators. Some of the courses offered include Integrated Livestock and Predator Management, Practical Farming Course, Livestock Marketing and Management, Financial Farm Management, Sustainable Utilisation of Game on Commercial Farmland, Small Stock Management, and Introduction to Sustainable Livestock Farming for Learners Grade 9 - 12.

Last week we had 28 farm workers on site participating in the Practical Farming Course which is designed for the farm workers. This course focuses less on management and more on hands on day to day issues. The course starts with the farm ecosystem and how their actions affect the system as a whole. Next they are taught herd health including what to look for in terms of illness, what medications they should have on hand and how to properly dispense them, and problems and solutions that may arise during birthing. Proper nutrition is also taught such as what times of the year different supplements may be needed. The participants also learn more about the use and training of livestock guarding dogs as they are the ones interacting with these dogs on a daily basis. To teach them more about the different predators on the farms we set up kill id sites which include a carcass, tracks and other signs that will help them determine which predator is causing the problem. Through this hand on exercise they learn ways to deal with their individual problems and often uncover misconceptions about the different predators.

We look forward to the next year of courses and are always grateful for the help from our sponsors. Keeping the cost off the farmers is very important for the success of the courses.

4 responses so far

Category: Cheetah - Education | Date: Oct 15 2007 | By: admin

It has been a busy but exciting week for our education programs. We started off the week with a group from Okamatapatii Combined School coming to participate in our centre based education program. This group of secondary learners stayed at our tented Camp Lightfoot for 2 days to learn about the cheetah and its role in the ecosystem. We started off the day with a cheetah run to show the learners these beautiful and unique cats in action. This is always a highlight for the learners as well as visitors, and it keeps our resident cheetahs in good shape. They also had the opportunity to observe a medical workup of a wild cheetah. Other activities they take part in during their stay include the cheetah feeding, a scavenger hunt through our cheetah museum and a game drive through the big field. Through this they learn not only about the cheetah but how important predator/prey interactions are for the ecosystem as a whole.

The learners also had the opportunity to meet a new addition to CCF, Little C, a four month old male cheetah. Little C was brought to us by a farmer who found him and his dead sibling. Despite attempts the mother wasn’t found and so he came to live with us. He will be an important part of our education program helping us to teach others why these animals should be wild and free. It is important for others to understand that the animals living with us have been orphaned and wouldn’t survive in the wild without their mother.

We have been fortunate to be joined by Courtney Van Dijk, a master’s student in Environmental Education at Lakehead University in Thunderbay Ontario. Courtney brings with her much experience from leading a science camp for five years, to teaching middle school and university students. She has provided new activities not only for the learners visiting CCF but for the teachers of Otjiwarango, our nearest town. She initiated a workshop for local teachers to learn more about implementing Environmental Education in schools and led them through activities that could be shared with their students. We had a good response as many teachers were already interested in the topic and enjoyed learning new ways to include it in their classrooms. She has also helped train our staff to carry on these workshops after she leaves.

4 responses so far

Category: Cheetah - Conservation Programmes, Cheetah - Education | Date: Oct 03 2007 | By: admin

On days we are not collaring cheetahs and having puppies there is still much to do here at CCF. Our centre is open 7 days a week for visitors to drop in. Education is a big part of our work and this gives us the opportunity to meet with people from all over the world. Our education staff takes them through our cheetah museum were they learn all about the cheetah’s history, biology, ecology, and our conservation efforts.

They are also taken to see the cheetah feeding of our 8 centre cats, Chewbaaka, the Hogwarts’ Trio, and the four Girls. The non-releasable cheetahs we have here were orphaned at a young age and therefore didn’t learn proper hunting and survival skills from their mother. The concern is that without proper hunting, and especially survival skills, combined with plentiful livestock in Namibia, releasing them may cause conflict between the cheetah and farmers. Throughout the year we respond to calls from farmers that have trapped cheetahs on their land. This was the situation with the Hogwarts’ Trio when at 2 months of age a farmer heard them calling their mother over a week’s time. Sadly the mother was never found and they came to reside CCF. Harry was named after the famous Harry Potter series due to a lightning bolt shaped cut over her eye and is in her enclosure with her sister Hermione and brother Ron. They continue to be favourites here at the centre and wow visitors and school groups with their enthusiastic running.

Visitors are also fascinated with CCF’s livestock guarding dogs as the dogs are often seen through out the farm with their goat herd. We use CCF as a model farm to show others that we can live with predators and protect our livestock. And we have news for you: as of yesterday we have welcomed our second litter of the month. Oushi gave birth throughout the night to 8 puppies. That gives us a total of 16 Anatolian puppies to be place with farmers when they reach 8 weeks of age. Until then they will be raised with our goats in order to bond with the herd.

3 responses so far